Given my love of bread, my freezer is packed full of different bread and bread-like items. English muffins, naan, bagels, and pita round out the supply of bread I keep stashed. It's a handy supply for when I don't know what to cook. I love making pita. It's a little effort but there's a certain joy in watching the pita puff up while baking (it's the little things.) This chickpea shawarma pita is my ideal lunch. Full of good protein and is such a warm meal thanks to the spices. As mentioned in the last shawarma recipe I posted, the spice list is long but they are all handy to have in your cupboard for future meals.
Chickpea Shawarma Stuffed Pita
A flavorful vegan sandwich with chickpeas cooked in shawarma spice then stuffed in a pita with hummus and lettuce.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 large servings 1x
- Cuisine: lunch
Ingredients
Chickpeas:
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1-15 ounce can, drained and rinsed)
- ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ¼ cup thinly sliced red pepper
Pita:
- 2 whole wheat pita with pockets
- ¼ cup hummus
- 1 to 2 handfuls chopped lettuce
- Feta, optional
- Parsley, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚ F. In a medium bowl, combine minced garlic with spices (cumin through the cayenne pepper). Add in the olive oil and stir until well combined/paste has formed. Stir in the chickpeas, red onions, and red pepper, using a spatula to toss and coat. Transfer chickpeas to a roasting pan and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes until chickpeas are hot and onions are tender.
- Slice each pita in half and heat the pita until just warm enough they are pliable. Open the pocket and spread 1 tablespoon of hummus in each. Follow with a handful of lettuce and ¼ of the chickpea mixture. Repeat with remaining pita halves. Serve with extra hummus, parsley, and feta if desired.
Notes
Tips & Tricks: Make the chickpeas ahead of time. They are great for dinner as a grain bowl- use half for dinner then save the other half for this lunch.
Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: chickpeas, pita, lettuce
Nutrition: See the information.
Nutrition
- Calories: 669
- Sugar: 10
- Sodium: 1684
- Fat: 30.1
- Carbohydrates: 84.5
- Fiber: 20.9
- Protein: 23.7
- Cholesterol: 0
Variations for the Chickpea Shawarma
The roasted chickpeas are at the heart of this meal. The seasoning is full of flavor and the chickpeas are great when used in a few ways (like served over millet). I really like how handy this recipe is for lunch (especially because you can roast the chickpeas ahead of time.) A few other options include:
Gluten-Free: What I love most about the chickpea base is that it's vegan and gluten-free. For this recipe, try your hand at some gluten-free pita!
Dressing: While I smear a massive amount of hummus on my pita, a drizzle of a lemon vinaigrette adds a nice pop of flavor and moisture to the chickpeas.
Salad: Skip the pita (or toast the pita into pita chips) and take a salad instead!
Featured Ingredient: Chickpeas
Chickpeas are my favorite lunch staple. They can stand in for many items in many forms. One of my favorite items is the chickpea salad sandwich. Not only quite, it's filling and can be made in big batches.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Blue Cheese and Grape Chickpea Salad
Chickpea Deli Salad
Ally @OmNomAlly says
This meal sounds so flavourful and nourishing 🙂 At my last workplace a group of us often went to a local restaurant for shawarma and since I left I've been truly missing those lunches! Making this version at home will almost get me as close to the original, I just need to turn it into a dinner-with-friends get-together to complete the experience 🙂
Thank you for sharing the recipe, I love making pita, so now I have another great reason to get my hands in some dough!
★★★★★
Stephanie Civitareale says
A vegetarian food blog that's healthy, delicious and looks so yummy? Hells to the yeah. I am definitely going to be making this one night, as I and my partner are on a low-carb diet and we've been looking for good recipes that even my housemate would like (he's very fussy, and it drives me bonkers that a 30-something year old doesn't like eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, beans on their own, corn, and a whole bunch of other food). All of the food that he likes are carb-loaded which makes it very hard on us since I have to cook for all three of us.
Stephanie
thethriftyvegetarian.com
Amelia says
This actually made my stomach rumble.
Meg Siobhan says
I'm trying to eat a little more healthier, and daaaaaaamn, this looks so good, I was drooling as I scrolled through!
★★★★
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
This pita sounds so satisfying!! And healthy. Definitely need to try!
Joy says
This looks so amazing. Yum!
Anna says
Ohhmy!!! I need to try this!! I'm obsessed with the chickpea and bread combination 😀
Malou says
When i try to stuff a pita i always mess up. Its often so hard to open it the way you did
erin says
I always heat mine up- makes it more pliable/less likely to crack!
Fox Kitchen says
Perfect!
Dani | salt sugar and i says
This sounds so delish! I really want to try and make my own pita bread, it sounds like a fun satisfying challenge 🙂
Rina says
Made this for my family, it was really great!
erin says
Awesome- so glad to hear!
Gena says
Love this, Erin. I love making falafel, but the deconstructed spin here, using chickpeas themselves, is a big time saver, and the end result is lovely!
★★★★★
MB @ Bourbon and Brown Sugar says
Yum! This looks delicious Erin! Love the spices 🙂
beata says
I can't deal with this, my 2 favorite things (chickpeas and shwarma) in a single dish! Cannot wait to try this!
Rachel says
Thank you so much for reposting this recipe. I made it last winter and had forgotten about it, but after seeing the recipe again I made it last night. It was one of the best meals we've had recently and it was so easy to make! Thank you for your wonderful recipes!
★★★★★
leeshin says
the spices are really mouth watering , thank you.. wanted to try this
Nayna says
The chickpeas are amazing! Taste more Indian than Middle Eastern in my opinion, LOVE THE! Super easy recipe That's delish!
I didn't do the pita part, but out would be amazing I'm sure.
You nailed it Naturally Ella ?
★★★★★
Nayna says
*LOVE THEM!
sisters, jeans & messy buns says
sooooo good <3
Lauren says
This is absolutely gorgeous, really love your recipes Erin 🙂
★★★★★
Kelly says
I was expecting this to be good, but wow... this was delicious!!! I changed the ratios a bit and used 2 red bell peppers and an entire red onion with 1 can of chickpeas, and really liked it. Thank you!!
★★★★★
erin says
Perfect! I always play around with ratios, for me it's the spice thought counts!
vivian says
This was so good, and so easy too. I roasted it a little longer to firm the chickpeas up a bit more, and it was great. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Marie says
If I am using dried chickpeas. Is the cooking time still correct, do I need to soak them first?
This sounds great. I love chickpeas, and love cooking Mediterranean, can't wait to try it!
erin says
You will need to use cooked chickpeas, so you will want to soak and then cook them until tender.
Amanda @ Sagely Sweet says
I simply cannot stop drooling over this. I make pita of flat breads 4 times a week and I eat chickpeas all day everyday. This is exactly what I need in my lunch life right now. I have everything I need for this and am totally going to make this tomorrow! Thanks so much for sharing. Your recipes are divine!
★★★★★
Calum Lewis says
I love this recipe, Tony Stark was right! (mentioned in the Avengers if you didnt know what Im talking about)
nina elle says
Love it!!! I use 1Tbsp coconut oil, and the rest H2O when making the spice paste, comes out GREAT!?????
Thank you so much for this wondeful, tasty, Arabic-Indian hybrid chickpea recipe...major YUM!
★★★★★
Rebecca says
I just made this today! This recipe is definitely a keeper. It's simple to make and is so full of flavor. It really is a beautiful recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Isaac Thomas says
This sounds absolutely delicious. As an Israeli living in the US, i definitely miss my Shawarma and am so happy to have a vegan alternative that I can make at home!
Isaac Thomas,
Peace & Love
Rachel says
I make this all the time. It's become my go-to. Every time I order groceries I always have to get chickepeas so I can make this recipe. I put it on salads or just eat it by itself.
Breanne says
Made this last night for dinner - really good. We used lemon hummus from Whole Foods and it brightened everything up. The spices were great!
★★★★
Janey says
This recipe has become such a staple in our house. It's a fantastic weeknight dinner or terrific made-ahead for lunches. I find when I'm short on one of the spices, it always turns out just fine - the overall combination of spice and warmth works with different notes and proportions. Thank you so much for sharing this marvelous dish!
Rhianna says
DELICIOUS! Only had tortillas for the delivery system, so good! Thank you! Husband asked for more vegetarian options (about time) and this will be a staple.
★★★★★
Grace says
Okay! Why was this so amazing. Literally made a meal prep out of this and you just made my week.
★★★★★
Giovanna C. says
Just made this and it was delicious! It was easy and quick I will definitely be making this again. Yummmmy!
Brynn says
I've never commented on a recipe before this one. This is fantastic, and I'll be making it again and again. Absolutely delicious.
★★★★★
em says
This recipe was delicious and such an easy recipe!! However, i did find it quite salty so i would recommend adding only a pinch.
★★★★
Cheyenne says
I love this recipe. I add in Indian spices such as garam masala or ras el hanout spice. Thank you for this recipe and for this great idea of an easy lunch meal. It’s really good with tzatziki or Indian raita instead of hummus as well.
★★★★★
Paul Brown says
The phone runs on iOS bike race cheats and Android systems are triumphing against handhelds’.Tower Bloxx’s New York adaptation enables users to carry the game is somewhat outdated now.
Paul Brown
★★★★★